I’ve already said that Derby’s chances in the ever-competitive Championship are good for a top-six spot - but what of their opposition for season 2011-12? Here’s Part One (clubs listed alphabetically A-I) of my two-part ‘prospectus’ for you all to argue over!

Current statistics reveal that managers in the Football League enjoy tenure of just over one and a half years at their current club. The pressure for results and progress is ever-present - and even though Clough has had the benefit of full board support at Derby, the pressure is just as apparent.

Half of the Championship clubs have undergone recent managerial upheaval - most of them during this summertime. New managers now have to quickly assess the squads they inherited, deal with pending transfer deals in and out, assemble their own backroom team and so on.

Derby has stability on its side. In the light of results (and bearing in mind the fate of many other struggling managers) such loyalty could stem in part to GSE’s lack of appetite for new recruitment.

GSE clearly wished to avoid all the attendant upheaval and cost of paying off another managerial entourage and they have regularly declared that they trust in Clough.

Many fans, though, perceived Mr Glick as lacking the experience and ability to attract or secure the services of a top-class football manager.

Derby’s lowly status in the table and absence of visible on-field progress makes attracting the best players more difficult too. Assuming real money is there to buy the experienced players we need - as opposed to ones that are available or hope to take the step to a bigger club - the squad is still lacking, as already discussed in RamZone’s “What We Did on Our Holidays”, last week.

Some clubs will benefit from Premier League ‘parachute money’ and can afford to retain or recruit more expensive players. It sure doesn’t get any easier to succeed in the Championship.

‘Resident’ Championship clubs with declared ambitions like Derby County should have the advantage of a more settled club when it comes down to the business of achieving a good start to the season…however, it is a long season - so quality, stamina and strength in depth will still tell in the end.

By the time Saturday comes, of course, things could change at Derby or any other club, with significant signings or departures, or injury problems and solutions. All clubs also have to negotiate the rest of the transfer window to keep their best players.

Apologies to anyone if competing fans think I’ve made omissions or errors - hey, part of the process is to provoke discussion and responses from you, anyway!

I’m far from a fortune teller and probably can’t claim the accuracy of the tentacled tipster, Paul the Octopus - but here’s the first chunk of my potted preview (in alphabetical order) of my current expectations for the 2011-12 Championship clubs, and their prospects for the new season:

Barnsley fell out with Mark Robins (or vice versa) and Keith Hill recently took the hot seat at Oakwell. I can’t see them making any great headlines but they are established at this level. Verdict: Mid table or lower - Barnsley perpetually lack the resources to win promotion to the elite.

Birmingham City gave the wrong noises to manager Alex McLeish following their relegation from the Premier League, so he hopped controversially from St Andrews to Villa Park. Chris Hughton, who halted Newcastle United’s decline and propelled them to immediate promotion in 2009-10, has been brought in to hopefully perform that feat at Brum.

City has already released a dozen or so players, and that’s almost before Hughton gets busy in the transfer market. A big financial question-mark also hangs over the club in the wake of major shareholder Carson Yeung’s overseas’ arrest on £59m-worth of money-laundering charges.

Star players are leaving St Andrews (and why on earth did Brum turn down a £16m joint bid from Stoke City for Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome?) Hughton, however, is a calm, collected stabilising force and he turned Newcastle around in very quick order. Verdict: (given that Brum rides gathering financial and legal storms) I expect City to be in the top six, perhaps the top two.

Blackpool FC lost the plot in the Premier League and succumbed to relegation in the end. In some ways, it was a surprise to see their season come apart after such an exuberant start. They will remain an entertaining and spirited club as long as Holloway remains there.

He has signed 8 players including the experienced Barry Ferguson and Kevin Phillips. However, without the spark of Charlie Adam, David Vaughan and other departees, they may have to settle for life back in the Championship. Verdict: ‘Pool could make the top six but won’t go all the way.

Brighton & Hove Albion is a progressive club and has renewed ambitions to go with their new stadium. The Seagulls clinched promotion from League One last season and will celebrate by moving into The American Express Community Stadium.

After a 14-year battle to build a new ground, the fans’ dream has been realised at last. Their success shows what fan unity and concerted action can achieve through determined grass-roots work and lobbying together.

Albion will need time to adapt having climbed this high again after a long absence. Manager Gus Poyet has surprisingly captured Peterborough hot-shot Craig Makail-Smith for £2.5m from under the noses of QPR, Leicester and West Ham but they could still find the going tough. Verdict: I expect them to consolidate, though may finish in the lower third of the Championship table.

Bristol City could be dark horses this time around but they lack strength in depth. They have been buying astutely and are visibly ambitious, and so far have retained their talismanic striker, Nicky Maynard. How I wish he’d sign for Derby!

Verdict: How long will the city of Bristol be a ‘Cinderella’ football venue? Perhaps not forever - but they may fade this time around, so they’ll have to make do with a top ten finish.

Burnley have lost the unremarkable ex-Ram Tyrone Mears and Chris Eagles (who is an Olympic-standard diver, albeit on a football pitch). They will have ‘parachute’ money but lack the scale or clout to attract big support or the very best players. Verdict: I don’t see them as a top six side.

Cardiff City, the perennial ‘Cinderella club’ losing out after several seasons near the top of the table, have dispensed with the services of Dave Jones.

City shed 12 players as well as their management team after the play-offs defeat, including strikers Bothroyd and Chopra, so a squad reshaping is now under way. Contract-hopping ex-Ram Kenny Miller has now joined their ranks.

The Bluebirds have drafted in Watford’s manager Malky Mackay; he’s an up-and-coming manager and looks to have a good future - but I’m sticking my neck out and will say my Verdict for Cardiff is outside the top six this time around!

Coventry City has ambition but also an unstable recent financial history. City aspires to Premier League status but may lack the stability or support to see it through. SISU, the hedge-fund vehicle through which Jeremy Keith wanted to operate Derby County, control the club. The Sky Blues are losing money and whilst having promises of investment, it isn’t yet tangible and boardroom splits have hindered progress.

On-field, the club plummeted down the Championship table in 2011 from a top six pre-Christmas place, in the same manner as Derby County. City reacted by sacking manager Aidy Boothroyd and has given the role to Steve Harrison.

The Sky Blues unveiled a new statue of former Highfield Road icon Jimmy Hill outside the Ricoh Arena recently but fans might have to take it on the chin again, as their team looks unlikely to improve drastically in the present scheme of things. Verdict: a mid-table finish.

Crystal Palace doesn’t seem to have been a hotbed of activity in the summertime and their chances of success seem limited. They might benefit from having let Claude ‘Clod’ Davis go but have also lost the abilities of Counago and Mahon. Verdict: There isn’t much to write home about from Selhurst Park, so I’ll stop writing and predict a bottom-half finish, maybe relegation.

Derby County - well, we live in hope! Please see my previous analysis for a view of how things may turn out for us in 2011-12 at this link:

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/derbycounty/fb_news.php?storyid=13317&title=what_we_did_on_our_holidays

Doncaster Rovers might not threaten the top of the league but look solid enough to stay out of too much trouble. There are many reliable, experienced players at the Keepmoat Stadium though star turns also seem absent. Verdict: Rovers seem destined for anonymous safety once again.

Hull City flattered to deceive in 2010-11 and couldn’t bounce back after relegation from the Premier League. Finance and wages are attendant issues and £50k-a-week Jimmy Bullard, whom Ipswich can’t afford either, is now suspended pending investigation of pre-season indiscipline.

The Tigers haven’t yet assembled a team to challenge and so they may well be in limbo for another season. Verdict: upper mid-table, I’d expect.

Ipswich Town are among those clubs whose manager only got his feet under the table since the New Year. They sacked the cheerless Roy Keane and recruited Paul Jewell, as the Tractor Boys fortunes had dipped dangerously. Jewell was allowed to spend money immediately and Town recovered to a mid-table position.

Jewell is rebuilding comprehensively; he has mirrored his move at Derby in buying Robbie Savage by acquiring Lee Bowyer to drive the midfield - but has sold young star Conor Wickham to Sunderland. Town have great support and top-flight intentions but I’m not convinced that Jewell is the man that can deliver them there.

Verdict: though Jewell should do a better job at Portman Road than his utter debacle at Derby (and that’s hardly difficult), I’ll tip them for a top ten finish - but not top six.

Part Two of this preview will follow soon, with a fateful summary of how I see the final shakedown next May - listing the Top Six, a ‘chasing pack’ and the unlucky basement trapdoor victims!

Are YOU bold enough to put down your own predictions in black and white? If not, why not…? Join the RamZone debate below!

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